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Monday, April 7, 2014

Playing hockey at Prudential Center won’t be anything new for Kenny Agostino.

The Flanders native won three NJSIAA Non-Public state titles at The Rock with Delbarton. Tonight will be different, though, as Agostino will play in the building for the first time as an NHL player as his Calgary Flames take on the Devils.

“It’s going to be a cool experience,” Agostino said after the Flames’ morning skate today. “It’s a building I’ve seen a lot of games in, so it’s going to be fun.”

Agostini, 21, said he “lost count” of how many friends and family members will be at the game tonight at “over 35-40”.

“It’s going to be really, really cool,” he said. “I have a lot of friends and family coming, playing in your home state, so it’s going to be fun.”

Agostino signed with the Flames on March 17 after completing his senior season at Yale. That the Flames were coming to New Jersey tonight “popped out” when he looked at the schedule.

“It’s going to be a special night,” he said.

Although he grew up as a Rangers’ fan – Mark Messier was his favorite player and he still has posters of Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter on the walls in his room at his parents’ house – Agostino says he came to a lot of Devils games at The Rock.

“All my buddies growing up were Devils’ fans,” he said. “I came to a lot more Devil games than I did Ranger games growing up, so it’s going to be a cool feeling to play on this ice tonight.”

Cory Schneider will start in net for the Devils (against Karri Ramo for Calgary), so Agostino will miss out on a chance to face future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur.

“That would have been cool, but I’m playing against an NHL goalie here. I don’t care who it is,” he said. “But that would have been really special.”

Agostino picked up his first NHL goal in his fifth game with the Flames on Friday, beating Roberto Luongo in a 2-1 Calgary victory. That was part of the payoff for all the work he put in to get to this point.

“It’s just a lot of years of hard work and a lot of help from family and friends and coaches along the line,” he said.

Many of them will be at the game tonight, including Delbarton coach Bruce Shatel.

“He texted me he’s going to be here,” Agostino said. “That will be cool. He said, ‘Play hard’ so I’ll try to do that for him.”

Although he’s in the NHL now, Agostino still cherishes his Delbarton experience.

“Three state championships, those are all special,” he said. “It was just a state championship, but it meant a lot to me.”

Agostino remember how Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello usually speaks to the state finalists each year before the games at Prudential Center.

“Every year he was great,” he said. “He addressed the four teams for making it this far. He always said, ‘Work hard’ and that’s what everyone does.”

Agostino then moved on to Yale where he helped the Bulldogs capture a national championship last year. He said college hockey helped him become a more complete player.

“I really didn’t know how to play in the D zone at all before I got to Yale,” he said. “College hockey is a very physical, fast-paced game. So, college hockey and Yale and coach (Keith) Allain really taught me the basics of D zone play and how important defense is. If you want to play offense, you have to play defense to get the puck. I learned a lot in my four years at Yale.”

Now that he’s in the NHL, he’s got even more to learn. He said the biggest adjustment has been “just the speed.”

“It’s not just the physical speed of the players, but how fast the game moves,” he said. “The window of opportunity to make plays is very small and the window to make plays is really fine. So, every pass has to be hard and fine. That’s the probably the biggest thing.”

Originally drafted in the fifth round (140th overall) by Pittsburgh in 2010, Agostino was traded to the Flames last season as part of the deal for Jarome Iginla. He said being part of a trade for one of the best players in team history is not something he thinks about.

“I get that question a lot and I don’t really feel any added pressure,” he said. “It was an honor to be part of a trade with a legend like Iginla, but I’m just trying to play my game. Obviously, I want to help this organization in any way I can.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.